Enki was a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Hittites and Hurrians. He was the deity of crafts (gasam); mischief; water, seawater, and lakewater (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gest'u, literally "ear") and creation. He was associated with the southern band of constellations called stars of Ea, but also with the constellation AS-IKU, the Field. His sacred number name was "40". The exact meaning of his name is uncertain: the common translation is "Lord of the Earth": the Sumerian en is translated as a title equivalent to "lord"; it was originally a title given to the High Priest; ki means "earth"; but there are theories that ki in this name has another origin, possibly kig of unknown meaning, or kur meaning "mound". The name Ea is allegedly Hurrian